According to the European standard EN 350-1 the natural durability of wood is defined as: "the inherent resistance of wood to attack by wood destroying organisms". This standard also describes how, for certain hazard classes, the durability is determined. The two methods described in this standard are the kolleflask method (EN 113) and the field-stake-test method (EN 252). The EN 113 test gives results within a short period of time by using isolated fungi cultures. A good prediction from the test results to the natural durability of timber in use is a problem. In contrary, the test results of EN 252 in outdoor field tests show the durability of timber species under certain soil and climate conditions, but the test takes a long period of time (years to decades) before an evaluation can be done. In different countries in Western-Europe a discussion is going on about the use of tropical hardwoods and timber from fast growing plantages. The impact of this is that there is a growing need for alternative timbers, which can substitute well known durable species. Quite often the durability of the alternative species is not well known. To give a reasonable prediction of the durability of wood species within a short period of time, a reproducible, reliable and fast test method for predicting durability is needed. Previous research on this subject (Polman et al. 1992) showed that with the aid of an accelerated stake-test, useful results can be achieved. The research described here was done to develop such a method. For this reason, results from an accelerated soil bed test were compared with EN 113 fungal tests and a modified field-test EN 252. For a further comparison, softrot tests following the standard ENV 807 were performed.

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